German Economic Sentiment Drops More Than Expected in August

German economic sentiment fell markedly in August, but the general outlook for Europe's largest economy remains "stable" and relatively solid, the ZEW think tank said Tuesday.

The think tank's measure of economic expectations fell to 10 points from 17.5 points in July, which is below the long-term average of 23.8 points. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a decline to 14.0 points.

But the group of financial analysts and investors polled by the ZEW has remained upbeat about Germany's current economic situation. The corresponding ZEW measure rose to 86.7 points in August from 86.4 points in July.

Most forecasters say that the German economy should maintain its solid performance in the second half of the year.

"The strong economic upturn in the German economy is expected to continue in the third quarter, with industrial output probably continuing to play an important role, thanks to a substantial expansion in exports," the country's central bank said Monday.

Official data last week showed that the German economy grew by 0.6% in quarterly terms, or 2.5% in annualized terms, in the second quarter, following annualized growth of 2.9% in the first quarter.

Todd Buell contributed to this article.

Write to Nina Adam at nina.adam@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 22, 2017 06:18 ET (10:18 GMT)